Description
Book SynopsisHugo Grotius (1583-1645) is the most famous humanist scholar of the Dutch Golden Age. He wrote influential works on the laws of war and peace, Dutch history and the unification of the churches. His plea for a freedom of the seas in Mare liberum offered the Dutch East India Company a ready justification for the establishment of a trading empire in the East Indies. As far as his daily duties left him any spare time, he penned confidential, learned and beautifully-written letters. This voluminous correspondence offers a trove of information on Grotius’ life and works, and forms the basis of his newest biography which sketches a life caught in a fierce struggle for peace in Church and State.
Trade ReviewAWARDS The Dutch version of this biography, Hugo de Groot, een leven in strijd om de vrede (Amsterdam: 2007) was awarded two literary prizes: the ‘Litteraire Witte Prijs’ by Sociëteit de Witte (The Hague) in 2008 and the ‘Henriëtte de Beaufort Prijs’ by the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (Leiden) in 2010.
Table of ContentsPreface ... xiii List of Illustrations ... xvi Notes on the Illustrations ... xx 1 INTRODUCTION ... 1 Hugo de Groot: A World-Famous Scholar ... 1 A Biography ... 2 Some Main Lines: A Troubled Triangular Relationship ... 7 Terminology ... 13 2 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH (1583-99) ... 14 Ancestry ... 14 Grotius’ Earliest Childhood ... 24 Grotius as a Student ... 33 The French Journey (1598) ... 44 3 ON THE WAY TO ADULTHOOD (1599-1607) ... 53 Scholarly Activities, Relations with Johan van Oldenbarnevelt ... 53 Leiden Friends: Heinsius, Meursius and Baudius ... 61 Grotius and Simon Stevin ... 67 ‘De republica emendanda’ ... 71 Advocate in The Hague; Relations with Johannes Wtenbogaert ... 73 The Bankruptcy of Jan de Groot ... 82 Family Life ... 88 4 ADVOCATE-FISCAL (1607-13) ... 91 De iure praedae as a Step towards the Advocate-Fiscalship ... 91 Grotius as Advocate-Fiscal ... 94 Maria van Reigersberch ... 97 Peace or Truce? ... 102 Mare liberum and De antiquitate ... 106 Administrative Duties ... 112 Relationship with the Stadholder Maurice ... 116 A Poem for Hendrik Delmanhorst ... 118 Leiden Friends: Scaliger, Baudius and Heinsius ... 120 5 A BUDDING POLITICIAN (1609-13) ... 124 The Troubles of the Truce Years ... 124 The Death of Jacobus Arminius ... 127 Johannes Wtenbogaert ... 133 Conradus Vorstius ... 136 Meletius ... 137 Leiden Friends: Petrus Bertius and Petrus Cunaeus ... 143 Political Complications (1611–13) ... 147 The English Journey (1613) ... 149 Discussions with the King and Other Great Men at the English Court ... 155 Return ... 162 6 PENSIONARY OF ROTTERDAM (1613-16) ... 165 The Pensionary’s Office as a Turning Point ... 165 The Appointment ... 167 Rotterdam ... 168 Family Life ... 170 Ordinum pietas ... 171 The Aftermath ... 177 Three Letters from 1614 ... 191 Political Career ... 199 7 AN INTELLECTUAL IN A TIME OF REVOLUTION (1616-18) ... 209 Political and Scholarly Activities ... 209 Adolphus Venator, A Hunter for the Truth ... 216 Hubbub in The Hague ... 220 Troublesome Missions: Oudewater and After ... 222 De satisfactione ... 232 De imperio circa sacra ... 239 English Connections ... 244 French Policy ... 249 The Approach of the National Synod ... 251 The Denouement ... 255 8 TRIAL AND IMPRISONMENT (1618-21) ... 264 The Road to Arrest ... 264 Arrest and Imprisonment ... 268 The Trial ... 272 Loevestein ... 293 A Brother’s Services ... 298 The Escape ... 302 9 EXILE (1621-25) ... 313 Paris, A Refuge in a Turbulent World ... 313 Family Life ... 315 Grotius and the French Political Authorities ... 323 Developments in French Calvinism ... 330 Remonstrants in Exile ... 332 Disquisitio an pelagiana sint ... 335 Verantwoordingh ... 340 Grotius and Charenton ... 353 Introduction to the Learned World of Paris. The Cabinet Dupuy ... 355 The ‘fratres tergemini’ ... 363 De iure belli ac pacis ... 367 10 EXILE (1625-31) ... 380 The Change of Power in 1625 ... 380 Financial Uncertainties ... 387 Negotiations ... 392 Maria and Nicolaes van Reigersberch as Grotius’ Advocates ... 398 Exile in Practice. Grotius’ View of France ... 403 Contacts with French Arminians ... 409 A Troubled Relationship: Grotius and Daniel Heinsius ... 412 A New Friendship: Grotius and Claude Saumaise ... 416 An Old Friend: Johannes Wtenbogaert ... 418 De veritate and other Scholarly Publications ... 422 Plans for Return ... 437 11 INTERMEZZO IN HOLLAND (1631-32) ... 443 Unexpected Return ... 443 Amsterdam’s Hospitality ... 452 12 PASSING THROUGH HAMBURG: HESITATIONS AND UNCERTAINTIES (1632-34) ... 463 Hamburg: A Harbour of Refuge ... 463 Negotiations with Sweden ... 471 The Journey to Paris ... 477 Sophompaneas ... 478 13 FRICTION BETWEEN OFFICE, SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION: THE FIRST YEARS OF THE PARIS EMBASSY (1635-40) ... 486 Entree ... 486 Family Life ... 488 Grotius and John Selden ... 494 Learned Contacts ... 499 Philology: The Study of Antiquity in All Its Aspects ... 502 Grotius, Heinsius and Saumaise ... 506 The Question of Interest ... 514 Grotius and the Church of Charenton ... 517 Grotius and His Domestic Chaplain Brandan Daetri ... 524 Grotius and Socinianism ... 529 Nicolaes van Reigersberch in Debate with André Rivet ... 536 14 TOWARDS A FINAL BREACH WITH HOLLAND (1635-40) ... 541 The Diplomatic Task ... 541 The General Political Situation ... 544 Grotius’ Diplomatic Reporting ... 548 Grotius’ Relations with French Political Leaders ... 551 Grotius, William Laud and John Scudamore ... 556 Grotius and Peter Abel Schmalz ... 559 A Spoiled Relationship: Grotius and the Republic ... 563 Willem de Groot, Aspirant Pensionary ... 571 Reigersberch, Grotius and Petter Spiring Silvercrona ... 580 Once Again: The Relationship with Holland ... 586 Activities as a Publicist ... 587 15 DIPLOMACY AND EXEGESIS: THE PARIS EMBASSY (1640-44) ... 592 A New Address 592 The Cinq-Mars Affair and the Contacts with the Cabinet Dupuy 598 Grotius and the ‘Réunion des Eglises’ 602 De Antichristo 608 Printers in France and Holland 618 Grotius’ Exegesis 629 The Path to Rome 643 Grotius’ Position in the Learned World: A Homeless Intellectual 657 16 A DISAPPOINTED DIPLOMAT (1640-43) ... 661 Politics and Protocol ... 661 Hazards of the Embassy ... 669 The Swedish-Danish War ... 675 Controversy with Johan de Laet ... 683 A Brittle Friendship: Grotius and Claude Saumaise ... 690 A Long-drawn-out Controversy: Grotius and André Rivet ... 699 Contacts with the Vossii and Wtenbogaert ... 710 Final Verdict on the Paris Years ... 714 Departure from Paris ... 716 A Grass Widow ... 718 17 SWEDISH JOURNEY AND DEATH (1645) ... 720 Journey to the Republic ... 720 Grotius in Sweden ... 722 Departure from Sweden and Death at Rostock ... 725 18 ABUSE AND HONOUR ... 737 Posthumous Controversies ... 737 Grotius’ Influence in Later Centuries ... 750 19 EPILOGUE ... 759 BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 765 Manuscripts ... 765 Printed Sources, Reference Works, Abbreviations ... 765 Secondary Literature ... 776 Index of Personal Names and Works Written by Grotius ... 807 Illustration Section (colour)
